Fans of athletic teams often enjoy showing their support by wearing clothing in their favorite teams' colors or bearing team-identifying indicia. When attending competitions, displays of encouragement and/or approval may be shown by displaying banners, placards, or by wearing exaggerated appendages such as large hands having a pointed finger or other such devices.
Additionally, holidays, organizations, and fundraising appeals generally have recognizable associated colors. For example, celebrants usually display red and green for Christmas, and orange for Halloween. As a further example, the color pink is associated with breast cancer awareness.
Fans and cheerleaders alike have embraced the use of pom poms for creating artistic display. Pom poms, also known as pompons, are typically ball-shaped clusters of ribbons or streamers, typically affixed to a handle to allow waving the pom pom in the air. A typical example of such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,046 for POMPON, issued Jan. 7, 1992 to Brian D. Kessler.
Pom poms are widely used by cheerleaders in elaborate displays designed to foster team spirit among the fans. Fans also widely use pom poms to display encouragement to the athletic team from the stands. Pom poms of the prior art typically have occupied the use of the user's hand, requiring that the user set down the pom pom to grasp, for example, a beverage container, camera, or other item. In crowded bleachers, this often results in the loss of or damage to the pom pom.